1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to buffing appliances, and more particularly, to a portable buffing appliance especially adapted to effect the treatment of a surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Buffing appliances in the form of a motor-driven rotating buffing wheel or pad are well known in the art of cleaning, waxing or polishing various surfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,760 discloses a typical automatic car washing gantry having mounted thereon a series of motor driven, rotating buffing heads or pads which automatically come into contact with a vehicle surface as the vehicle progresses through the gantry frame. As stated in this patent (column 18, lines 61 et seq.) the machine may be equipped with a spraying device for applying wax or some other surface treatment substance to the surface of the vehicle body, or to the buffer pads, but this reference fails to discloses any means whatsoever to accomplish these functions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,541 there also is disclosed an automatic car washing machine of the gantry frame type wherein a manifold mounted on the frame is adapted to spray wax, soap, or detergent, or combinations of same, at the vehicle utilizing a mixture of air and water under pressure (e.g. foam). Similarly, the automobile washing system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,423 features a separate rotating nozzle through which a whirling spray of wax, soap, etc. may be sprayed onto the side of a vehicle moving past the rotating nozzle.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use buffing and surface treatment substance applying devices in close proximity to each other, the provision of a more simple apparatus combining the buffing and surface treatment substance application in a single integrated device is not contemplated. Nor does the prior art described above teach or suggest a portable device which may be used by individuals in a relatively small work space or cleaning bay apart from a complicated, elaborate gantry frame automatic cleaning apparatus. The foregoing disadvantages are overcome by the unique buffing appliance of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.